I am so excited. My 10 and half month old, Olivia, has a doctor appointment for a flu shot today. I know, who gets excited about giving a baby shot? I am not mean. I swear! But we get to find out how much she weighs. And THAT is super exciting!
Pregnancy does not agree with me. I had a horrible pregnancy with my son. It was better with Olivia but still, I had lots of complications. Olivia is our little miracle baby. Robbie was not supposed to be able to have children. His ex wife and him had tried. He was checked. Three (3!!) doctors told him that he would never have children. He was sterile. Yeah, doctors know so much. Anyway, she was born sick. Not super sick and, thank God, never went in the NICU. But her pediatrician said she had never seen white blood cell counts that high. Astronomically high were her words. This is a doctor that used to be a professor of medicine and is the second in the Florida panhandle for the Pediatrics Association. She is a great doctor. So, they did spinal taps and took blood. I had no infection. They tested me. Her cultures never produced anything. They gave her some really strong antibiotics and when her white blood cell count came down, they let her come home. She weighed 7 pounds 13.2 oz when she was born last December. She was a good sized baby. Then, she just didn't gain weight. She grew and got longer but her weight percentages kept dropping. We finally leveled off a couple of months ago and no longer have to go in for weight checks every two weeks. At her 9 month appointment she only weighed 14 pounds. She is just now fitting into 3 to 6 month old clothes. It is very frustrating. But, she has decided that she won't eat baby food but loves table food. I can just tell that she has gained weight. I keep hoping for big jump, like two pounds. We will see.

Monday, October 25, 2010

Last Friday Robbie came home from work with a story about a coworker. It seems that his wife and him got into an argument about disciplining his stepdaughter. The wife didn't like the way he handled it so they argued and then she gave him the silent treatment. Coworker knows that Zach is not Robbie's biological child so he was asking how we handle things. Robbie's only child is our daughter Olivia. Zach is 14 and has Asperger's. We do not always agree on punishments and whatnot but I refuse to argue about the kids in front of the kids. I feel that is undermines authority and teaches children that they only have to listen to one parent. And I don't do the silent treatment. I want you to know how I feel whether you want to hear it or not. Zachary has to listen to Robbie just like he has to listen to me. Now, my older sister believes that Zach should not have to listen to Robbie because he is not his biological parent. She doesn't make her teenage daughter listen to her fiance. I think that would cause problems. I know that I would not live in a home where the children did not have to listen to me. It just would not happen. \

So my question is, are you a blended family too? And how do you handle it?

Thursday, October 21, 2010

I am always on the look out for a good deal or a way to save some pennies. The more pennies I save in every day life, the more pennies I have to go back to Disney World! Anyway, I saw this a couple months ago and decided to give it a try. We bought an infant pool and then some ball pit balls. The pool was $10 and the ball pit balls were $10 at Walmart for 100 balls. So, we spent a $20 for a ball pit! Now, tell me why I really really want to buy the oh so cute Mickey Mouse one at Toys R Us for $50? I am resisting!

Wednesday, October 20, 2010

I did my bloggy rounds today. A few posted of losses in their life. My twenties were rough. I got very ill and came very close to dying. My ex has Mesothelioma. He was not supposed to live to see 35. He is doing good and will be 35 in a couple of months. But, coming that close to death and watching one you love get sicker give you a whole new perspective on life. I try my best not to let the little things in life get to me. I try to look for the good. I do my best to believe in Karma. And if it can get someone else, well, it can get me too. So I watch for that. I have a wonderful 14 year old son and a beautiful 10 month old daughter. My son has high functioning autism. It is not always and easy thing to live with. Some days are great and some are not so great. My sister told me a story about something she witnessed at the grocery store. She saw a boy, too old to be in a cart, banging and making noise. He was loud but she said you could look at him and clearly tell 'something was not right'. Sometimes you can look and tell, and sometimes you can't. Anyway, at some point some man decided to complain about him to the parents. When they tried to explain, he then told them they shouldn't take him out in public. (!!!! really?) She stepped in and asked why they were explaining to an idiot? Good job sister!!! Now my son is 14 years old. He knows how to behave in public. Does he always? no. But that is the nature of the beast that is autism. We cannot control the good days or the bad. We can only go with the flow. We can only hope that at 14 he doesn't start crying in the store for some odd reason. And, yes he does sometimes. I don't drive so Robbie has to take me and that means both kids have to go. I am sorry if having my child in public bothers some people. How do these people expect these kids to learn appropriate behavior? It takes practice and you have to do that in a real environment. So please, the next time you see something like this, have a little patience. Though I do not excuse bratty behavior. Just the honest ones. Have you seen the article about the restaurant in North Carolina? http://www.firstcoastnews.com/news/strange/news-article.aspx?storyid=166140 I love it!

Tuesday, October 19, 2010

I just got an email from Muellers pasta. If you are signed up for their email, or you sign up, you can print a coupon for $1 off of 2 Mueller's pasta. Today is the last day of the Publix sale for the Muellers BOGO pasta at $1.29. My store allows me to use one per item so you get two dollars off $1.29! That is FREE pasta today only!!! I did this earlier this week and it allowed me to get the whole wheat pasta too! Free is my absolute favorite price!!!

First, I had to get a prescription filled at Walgreens yesterday. I noticed they have Nivea body wash on sale 2 for $5. In Sundays paper there were coupons. I have one for $3 off any one bottle Nivea body wash, one for $1 off any one bottle Nivea body wash, and one for $3 off any body wash. When I do my math, you can get two bottles for as little as $1! That is 50 CENTS each for body wash! Or you can use all three coupons and get three body washes for 50 cents TOTAL!

Ok, on to Publix. Publix has/will have depending on where you live, General Mills cereals BOGO for up to $3.89. My store allows you to use one coupon for each item. There are some $1 off coupons at www.target.com www.smartsource.com and at www.coupons.com. When I do my math, I am getting a 16 to 17oz box of cereal for 95 cents. At this price, I plan to stock up!

Monday, October 18, 2010

Free dining when you book a resort room and ticket package at Walt Disney World resort. Most dates available now through Sept 29, 2011! There are black out dates and you do have to book before December 20, 2010! There is a three night minimum stay and two days ticket purchase.
This is a great deal. My family loves the dining plan. If you would like details or a no obligation quote, please either send me a message or an email at adisneytravelagent@gmail.com or give me a call at Fairytale Journeys at 850-366-2709.